Still well harcourt



(No Model.)v

" S. HARCOURT.

PIANO FORTE ACTION.

Patented Oct. 18, 1887.

N. PETERS. PMWLMmlv-lphn Within-tom DC UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STILLIVELL HAROOURT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE \V. WV.

, KIMBALL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

PIANO-FORTE ACTION.

SIECIPI'C'A'I'ION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,578, datedOctober '18. 1887.

Application filed May 31, 1887. Serial No. 289,809. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, STILLWELL HARooUR'I, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Piano-Forte Actions, of whichthe fol lowing is a specification.

' To obtain a quick-repeating action by the hammer, which will insurethe sounding of the string with partial successive strokes of the key,such as areimparted in trilling,without preventing the escape of thejack from under the butt, when thatis necessary,isthe object of thisinvention, and I accomplish such object by the use of a light wirespring extending from the butt of the hammer to the jack, with one endsecured in each. This spring, while it doesnot prevent-the separation ofthe butt and jack, yet brings them together again quickly, and whenthekeyis repeatedlystruck between the upper and lower planes of its dip,as is the case in trilling, the spring maintains the proper relativeposition of the butt and jack to insure striking by the hammer withevery impulse given to the key. All this will be better understood fromthe description given below when considered with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectionof apiano action to which my improvement has been applied. Fig. 2 is anenlarged section showing the manner of securing the spring in thehammer-butt, and Fig. 3 is a view of the spring detached.

are of the ordinary construction.

The spring, which forms the subject-matter of the invention,is shown atH. Its upper end is loosely inserted in a hushed opening, h, in the backside of the hammer-butt, assuming that the jack in its escape moves tothe front side thereof, (see Fig. 2,) and its lower end is secured tothe corresponding side of the jack, about midway of the latter, by meansofa hushed pin, t, passing through the jack and through a coil, j, inthe spring, thejack being properly recessed to receive the coil. Thelower leg, k, of the spring bears upon the surface ot'thejack. I- do notwish, however, to be limited to this particular method of securing thespring to the parts upon which it acts, except that it is essential thatthe spring be sufficiently long between the point where it is secured tothejack and the point where itbears upon the butt to give it thecharacter required for the work it performs-that is to say, said springshould yield very readily at the start of the jacks escape, so as not tointerfere with that operation, and it should at the'same time possessall the strength requisite to quicken thejacks return to position underthe butt. A short spring would be apt to seriously interfere with andoften wholly prevent'thejacks escape, even if made of the lightest wirecapable of any usefuleffect inhastening the return. It will be seen thatthis spring, which is preferably oflight wire,will tend withgentlepressure to keep the butt andjaek in operative position at alltimes when they are not positively separated by the stop 6, and hencesecures quick-repeating action by the hammer under SUCCGSSlXO strokes ofthe key.

I am aware that various methods have been adopted to secure the same endwhich I accomplish by my invention; but the means used by me are verydifferent and much simpler than those heretofore employed.

I claim- In combination with a hammer and jack of v

